Ivory Coast charges TV presenter for Gbagbo-leaning show

New York, July 22, 2011--Authorities in Ivory
Coast detained a journalist on Thursday for moderating a TV talk show favorable
to ousted former ousted president Laurent Gbagbo, according to local
journalists.

Hermann Aboa, a presenter with national,
state-run public broadcaster Radiodiffusion
Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI) is being held in the Agban military police
camp in the economic capital, Abidjan, journalists told CPJ. A public
prosecutor read a three-page charge sheet to Aboa listing numerous anti-state
crimes, including endangering state security and incitement to racial hatred, a
source close to the case who spoke on condition of anonymity told CPJ.

The charges relate to Aboa's role as a
moderator of a political talk show entitled Raison
d'État("National Interest")during the five-month longpolitical crisis that
followed disputed elections between President
Alassane Ouattara
and incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo. The program exclusively featured guests
favorable to then-president Gbagbo, who controlled the station
before he was ousted in April by
forces loyal to Ouattara.

"The prosecution of Hermann Aboa for
moderating a TV show contradicts President Ouattara's public pledges that pro-Gbagbo journalists would not be persecuted,"
said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call for the immediate
release of Aboa and the charges against him to be dropped."

For several weeks, the Ouattara government
has been holding six other current and former journalists and media
personalities among a group of 15 people, on anti-state charges allegedly for their militancy in favor of Gbagbo,
according to news reports and CPJ research.